Welcome to Michael's CaringBridge site. We are not asking for donations.
We have created this site to keep friends and family updated. We appreciate your support, words of hope, and encouragement.
We have created a Flickr page to celebrate Michael's life and interests. Please visit it and share with us your memories and thoughts. If you have photos you would like to post on his Flickr page please send them to me at kpm4mpm@gmail.com
https://www.flickr.com/photos/132316532@N02/albumsTelling the story of Michael's illness feels like it has been a year or more even though he was first diagnosed in January 2016. The news was scary and confusing and the learning process along the way was complicated with many unknowns. Today the doctors believe Michael has a stage 4 Carcinoma of Unknown Primary (aka CUP). In simple terms he has a rare form of malignant cancer about the size of a grapefruit which is growing inside his body near the right kidney and adrenal gland. CUP means that much of there search for well-known cancers does not apply and curative treatment options are hard to find. In fact, Michael never received any curative treatment for his cancer, only palliative. Stage 4 means that the cancer has grown beyond its immediate origin and is actively spreading to other sites in the body by metastasis. Stage 4 also means that survival rates are very low. This sounds terrible and it has been. One doctor along the way described Michael’s disease much like a lightning bolt because it seems to strike fast without warning and with devastating results when you are hit by it.
The following is my best recollection of how this all started and where we are today. In hindsight Michael's battle with this disease was mostly a lost before it was found. I apology in advance if the details are hard to appreciate and may, at time, sounds harsh and uncaring. This is furthest from my reason for sharing.
I am composing the remainder of Michael's story now and apologize that it is not finished for you yet. I will let you know when I posted it.
